RAKBANK will close 9 of its branches across UAE from September 3, 2020. In a statement, the bank said it will close six branches in Dubai and one each in Sharjah, Khor Fakkan and Abu Dhabi.

In Dubai, the branches located at Al Ras, Mirdiff, Marina Diamond, Al Quoz Industrial, Dubai Investment Park and Jebel Ali Free Zone will be closed, while Sharjah’s industrial area and Abu Dhabi’s Al Jazeera branches will also be shut.

RAK Bank told its customers that their IBAN and account details will remain unchanged and they can visit any of its branches for banking transactions.

“We have increased the daily withdrawal and deposit limits across all our ATMs/EDMs to reduce your visits to our branches and urge you to use these channels,” the bank said.

RAKBANK reported consolidated net profit of Dh153.5 million for the first quarter of this year, a decrease of 43.2 percent when compared to the first-quarter of 2019. The drop in profits was mainly due to higher IFRS 9 provisions set as precautionary measures to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bank reported consolidated net profits of Dh1.09 billion in 2019, up 19.4 percent  year-on-year. The growth in net profit was driven by improved net interest income, an increase in net income from Islamic financing, and non-interest income, as well as a reduction in provisions for credit loss.

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The platform will facilitate secure digital customer onboarding, instant bank account functionality and sharing of verified KYC data between licencing authorities and financial institutions.

The initiative is powered by norbloc, a global leader in blockchain KYC technology.

It has the full support of Smart Dubai and the Central Bank of UAE. The project was first announced by Dubai Economy and Emirates NBD earlier in the month of February this year.

Omar Bushahab, CEO of Business Registration & Licencing (BRL) sector in Dubai Economy, told the media, “This marks a key milestone in establishing a UAE-wide ecosystem for KYC data sharing and instant digital onboarding of companies by financial institutions. It is in alignment with the government’s vision around digitisation and paperless as crucial strategies that enable continuation and sustainability, especially during these challenging times, further enhancing ease of doing business in the country.”

“Emirates NBD is the first banking group to go live on the platform with its initial use case covering E20, its digital business bank. The next milestone will be the go-live of Emirates NBD’s additional use cases and of our remaining banking partners along with the official release of the Consortium Agreement that will govern the ecosystem and outline how data will be shared between Consortium Members. We are also in advanced discussions with a second wave of financial institutions and free zones to further expand the initiative, and we welcome the remaining financial institutions and free zones to join this effort.”

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Bank of America acquired its stakes in Emirates NBD in a deal that is expected to be worth Dh900 million.

According to the deal, Bank of America bought around 100 million shares of Emirates NBD.

Emirates NBD posted a net profit of around Dh14.5 billion and total assets in excess of Dh683 billion in 2019.

Earlier this year, Emirates NBD launched the Mastercard World Switch Card using switch technology — a first in the Middle East and North Africa. The World Switch Card provides customers with both credit and debit card functions with the push of a button. The World Switch Card will be available to the bank’s major customers prior to the general public.

The World Switch Card was announced at a ceremony hosted last November by Emirates NBD Egypt in Cairo. The ceremony was attended by major account holders, official delegates from corporations, and a few distinguished public figures.

In January, Emirates NBD also entered into a partnership with the Dubai Land Department’s (DLD) Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) to emerge as a trust account representative offering banking services for properties that are jointly controlled.

Emirates NBD’s move to offer trust account services is based on the latest law that was initiated in September last year. The main objective of forging the collaboration is to develop healthy competition and increase investment into real estate.

In doing so, Emirates NBD has emerged as the first bank in the region to team up with RERA after the inception of the law on jointly owned properties came into being.

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